I Never Realized ...
by JosephineLL
Summary: A challenge from Saturn's Orbit, where the first line of the story is: 'I never realized that you were capable of doing something that stupid.' Separate vignettes; pt 1 M/S, pt 2 T/S, pt 3 A/S
1. Malcolm

Title: I Never Realized, pt 1  
  
Author: Josephine  
  
Email: Lovellama@aol.com  
  
Pairing: Pt 1 M/S, Pt 2 T/S, Pt 3 A/S  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: A challenge from Saturn's Orbit, where the first line of the story is: 'I never realized that you were capable of doing something that stupid.'  
  
Category: General/Romance  
  
Written: April 12, 2002  
  
* * * * *  
  
I Never Realized Malcolm  
  
"I never realized that you were capable of doing something that stupid. You're a hazard to everyone around you, Malcolm Reed. I don't care one bit if you blow yourself up, but I'll be dammed if I let you take us along. You've crashed through a window, shattered the mirror, and broke your Mother's favorite bottle of perfume. Christ, Malcolm! Use your head for once!"  
  
Malcolm stood in his parent's bedroom; he could hear the barely restrained fury in his father's voice. The sickly stench of Honeysuckle enveloped him. The slight breeze from the broken window wasn't, unfortunately, clearing the room of the smell.  
  
"What on Earth made you think you could go shooting off rockets near the house? What if your Mother was in here when it hit? What is with you, boy?"  
  
The rocket worked fine, it was an unexpected gust of wind that had caused it to go off course. The day was supposed to have been still, with no wind. Just Malcolm's luck an errant breeze had blown up.  
  
"This time you went too far Malcolm! I've tried to beat it out of you, but apparently that's not working. No food, Malcolm! Two weeks this go 'round! Now clean this mess up."  
  
Malcolm watched his father storm out of the room. He could faintly hear his mother's voice through the door, and his father answer her.  
  
"No, Mary, I mean it this time! The boy has got to learn discipline. Fine, fine, apple juice only! Nothing else! Now leave me be, woman."  
  
Malcolm bent down and started picking up glass.  
  
-----  
  
"Malcolm? Malcolm? Are you there?"  
  
With a start, Malcolm found himself in a turbo lift with Hoshi, the smell of Honeysuckle still in the air. "I'm sorry, what?"  
  
"Where'd you go? You were off someplace else."  
  
"It's not important." He finally really saw her. "You look nice."  
  
"Thanks. 'Some Like It Hot' is playing tonight. You going?"  
  
"No, I don't think so."  
  
The doors slid open. "It's a great movie, Malcolm. Come on." Hoshi grabbed Malcolm's hand, pulling him out of the lift. She looked back as she tugged him down the corridor, giving him a wide smile. "It'll be fun."  
  
The sweet scent of Honeysuckle drifted past him. 


	2. Trip

I Never Realized, pt 2  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
I Never Realized Trip  
  
  
  
"I never realized that you were capable of doing something that stupid." Hoshi's voice shook with laughter.  
  
Trip looked over at her. "*Ensign*, if ya know what's good for ya, you won't say another word."  
  
"What on Earth made you think you could eat an entire Pecan pie in less than five minutes?" They both looked at the empty pie plate sitting in the middle of the table.  
  
"I got dared."  
  
"Oh. You were dared. It all becomes so clear now."  
  
"Hey. Don't ya go mockin' a double dog dare. M' honor was at stake."  
  
"Mmm hmm. Well, I don't know about your honor, but you're in sorry shape. Let's go, Trip." Hoshi pulled him to his feet. "Your adoring public is gone. Even your partner in crime has left. How did this thing start anyway?"  
  
"Archer said somethin' 'bout an Apple pie bein' gone in less than a minute. Gawd I'm stuffed. Couldn't eat another bite."  
  
"Boys. I'll never understand them." Hoshi helped Trip walk down the corridor and into the turbo lift. She watched as he leaned against the wall, eyes closed. "So you decided to see if you could finish a Pecan pie in less than five?"  
  
"I was State Fair Pie Eatin' Champion, 2134 – 2137."  
  
"That was fourteen years ago!" Sighing, Hoshi led Trip out of the lift to his cabin. "Sit."  
  
"Darlin', Ah can't."  
  
"Hold on to me, then." Hoshi got Trip's boots off, then stripped him down to his boxers. Trying not to bend at the waist, Trip laid down.  
  
"Ohhh Gawd." Trip sprawled face up on his bunk, one arm and leg hanging off. The normally flat planes of his belly were distended by the pie.  
  
Hiding a smile, Hoshi shook her head. "I sometime wonder what I see in you."  
  
Trip cracked an eye, looking at her. "Ah may not be th' champion anymore, darlin', but I gave that sommicth a run for his money."  
  
"Trip!! It was Porthos!!"  
  
  
  
part 3 coming soon … 


	3. Jon

Title: I Never Realized, pt 3  
Author: Josephine  
Email: Lovellama@aol.com  
Pairing: Pt 1 M/S, Pt 2 T/S, Pt 3 A/S  
Rating: PG  
Summary: A challenge from Saturn's Orbit, where the first line of the story is: 'I never realized that you were capable of doing something that stupid.'  
Category: General/Romance   
Written: April 15, 2002 

For Pheny ... 

* * * * *

**I Never Realized Jon**

_I never realized that you were capable of doing something that stupid. You've really done it this time, Jon._

Looking down at Hoshi, her eyes wide with shock and her lips red from the kiss he had just given her, Jon felt his heart sink into his boots. 

"Hoshi …" 

"Don't say it. If you're sorry, that's fine, just don't say it. You can pretend this never happened. It's this place … being away from Enterprise … it's not how you really feel." Stumbling over her words, Hoshi quickly turned and entered her room, leaving a stunned Jon staring at the wooden door. 

He placed his hand against the planks. "I'm not sorry. Not at all. This isn't over, Hoshi." 

Jon walked back along the hallway to his own room. Standing by the window, he looked out on the frozen wasteland below him. _This place … how on Earth can she think it's this place?_ He gave his reflection a wry grin. Spending all your time bundled up in thermal gear conducting trade talks was not favorable to romance. About the only actual part of Hoshi he saw anymore was the tip of her pink nose, or maybe her chapped cheeks. But working so closely with just her these past few days, seeing her upturned face as he said goodnight …the kiss had been a foregone conclusion. 

_As to being away from the Enterprise … maybe it is being away from the ship. Only because I could never get you to see past my rank. And for your information, Hoshi, it is how I really feel._ Jon had been taken with her from the first time he saw her; standing confidently in front of a group of students, coaxing the guttural sounds of the Vulcan language from them. 

Sighing, Jon peeled off a few outer layers and climbed into his bed. _It isn't over, Hoshi …_

----- 

Jon still hadn't figured out what to do the next morning. _How do you convince someone it's not infatuation?_ He sat in the sauna, feeding the fire around the stones. Inside he was frozen; he wanted to roast, to feel warm again. Leaning his head against the wall, Jon closed his eyes. 

"Captain? Jon?" At the light touch on his shoulder Jon's eyes snapped open to see a startled Hoshi. "I thought you fell asleep. They said to be sure not to, that you could die from the heat …" 

"I remember, Hoshi." He watched as Hoshi nodded, biting her lip. Jon's hand snaked out to encircle her wrist as she went to leave. 

"Don't go." 

"Captain …" 

"Jon. I need to talk to you, Hoshi." 

"I don't think …" 

"Hoshi. Just listen." He let go of her wrist, and after a moment Hoshi sat down on the other side of the circular room. Jon tossed another measure of water onto the hot stones and watched the steam fill the room. 

"How do you convince someone it's not infatuation? Do you tell her that the moment you met you were struck by how vibrant she was? How everyone else was reduced to being just a foil for her? That when you are apart, and things get hectic, you don't always think of her; but when you do, she's like a gyroscope, centering you again. Catching a glimpse of her across the room brings an adrenaline spike that evens out to a thrill that lasts the rest of the day. To hear her voice revitalizes you, calms you." He closed his eyes, feeling the sweat pour out from his body. 

"Or maybe that you're amazed at the strength she has in her. To keep going after all that has happened, all she's been through. Conquering her fears, trying to overcome her doubts about her own abilities. Do you say to her you're in awe of her talents, the way her mind works, her gift of making sense of the tortuous puzzle of alien languages? That she has a wicked sense of humor, that you admire the spunk she has, even with her self-doubts? 

"You'd even tell her that she sometimes aggravates you; the way she doesn't believe in herself, the way she has too much spunk and doesn't always follow orders without pushing back. That you wished she wasn't so nervous of space flight, that she wasn't so afraid all the wonderful new things that she's seeing and experiencing." Jon sighed. 

"So you tell her. Because you love her. And there might be a small chance that she loves you back. And if she does, then it was worth it. And if she doesn't …" 

Feeling a hand on his arm, Jon opened his eyes to see Hoshi smiling at him. "But she does."


End file.
